Respiratory loss during late-growing season determines the net carbon dioxide sink in northern permafrost regions

Zhihua Liu (), John S. Kimball (), Ashley P. Ballantyne (), Nicholas C. Parazoo, Wen J. Wang (), Ana Bastos, Nima Madani, Susan M. Natali, Jennifer D. Watts, Brendan M. Rogers, Philippe Ciais, Kailiang Yu, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Frederic Chevallier, Wouter Peters, Prabir K. Patra and Naveen Chandra
Additional contact information
Zhihua Liu: University of Montana
John S. Kimball: University of Montana
Ashley P. Ballantyne: University of Montana
Nicholas C. Parazoo: California Institute of Technology
Wen J. Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun
Ana Bastos: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Department of Biogeochemical Integration
Nima Madani: California Institute of Technology
Susan M. Natali: Woodwell Climate Research Center
Jennifer D. Watts: Woodwell Climate Research Center
Brendan M. Rogers: Woodwell Climate Research Center
Philippe Ciais: Université Paris-Saclay
Kailiang Yu: Université Paris-Saclay
Anna-Maria Virkkala: Woodwell Climate Research Center
Frederic Chevallier: Université Paris-Saclay
Wouter Peters: Wageningen University and Research
Prabir K. Patra: Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
Naveen Chandra: Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Warming of northern high latitude regions (NHL, > 50 °N) has increased both photosynthesis and respiration which results in considerable uncertainty regarding the net carbon dioxide (CO2) balance of NHL ecosystems. Using estimates constrained from atmospheric observations from 1980 to 2017, we find that the increasing trends of net CO2 uptake in the early-growing season are of similar magnitude across the tree cover gradient in the NHL. However, the trend of respiratory CO2 loss during late-growing season increases significantly with increasing tree cover, offsetting a larger fraction of photosynthetic CO2 uptake, and thus resulting in a slower rate of increasing annual net CO2 uptake in areas with higher tree cover, especially in central and southern boreal forest regions. The magnitude of this seasonal compensation effect explains the difference in net CO2 uptake trends along the NHL vegetation- permafrost gradient. Such seasonal compensation dynamics are not captured by dynamic global vegetation models, which simulate weaker respiration control on carbon exchange during the late-growing season, and thus calls into question projections of increasing net CO2 uptake as high latitude ecosystems respond to warming climate conditions.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33293-x

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